A Study On Pre-service EFL Teachers’ Preparedness To Teach And Influencing Factors

The professional development of teachers is a continuous process,which consists of two major stages,the pre-service training stage and in-service development stage.As the main force in the future fundamental education,M.Ed.graduates’ full preparation in the pre-service training stage will to a large extent affect their in-service development and influence the basic education directly,therefore,pre-service teachers who are going to enter the teaching profession should improve their preparedness in different aspects,such as professional philosophy,professional knowledge and professional competence so as to be competent in teaching tasks.Up to date,most researches on pre-service teachers’ preparedness focus on comparing the effectiveness of different teacher training programs,and examining their preparedness in terms of various aspects.There is a paucity of research studying the preparedness of pre-service teachers especially M.Ed.students and the influencing factors at home.In order to make up the research gap in this field,the present study aimed to investigate the general situation of pre-service EFL teachers’ preparedness to teach and the factors affecting it.50 pre-service EFL teachers from M.Ed.program in Central China Normal University participated in this study.Mixed research methods were used,including questionnaires and interviews.Some insights for cultivating well prepared pre-service EFL teachers were formed.This study mainly focuses on the following three research questions:1.What is the general situation of pre-service EFL teachers’ preparedness to teach?2.What’s the level of their preparedness to teach in terms of professional philosophy and teacher ethics,professional knowledge and professional competence?3.What are the factors influencing their preparedness to teach?Major findings are presented as follows:1.The overall preparedness of pre-service EFL teachers was high.Among the three aspects,pre-service EFL teachers had the highest level of preparation in professional philosophy and teacher ethics.The level of preparation in terms of professional knowledge and professional competence was lower.2.Most pre-service EFL teachers perceived themselves to have high professional philosophy and teacher ethics.In terms of professional knowledge,pre-service EFL teachers were well prepared in content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge,but not in pedagogical knowledge and general knowledge;in terms of professional competence,pre-service EFL teachers felt prepared to communicate with students and colleagues and had high reflective and developmental skills,but they were not well prepared for classroom management skills.3.The factors that influenced pre-service EFL teachers’ preparedness to teach include pre-service EFL teachers’ prior learning experience and teaching experience,job hunting experience,models’ effect,support from others,and some other factors like pre-service teachers’ own learning interest and initiatives.Based on the findings above,this study suggested that pre-service EFL teachers should realize the shortcomings of their preparedness to teach in time and try to improve themselves;teacher education program designer could add some related general courses to help develop pre-service EFL teachers develop comprehensively;the duration of teaching practice should be prolonged;teacher educators should play the role of model and provide effective suggestions for pre-service EFL teachers.